KEN Livingstone has sparked outrage today after lashing out at America and arguing that US foreign policy “fuelled the anger” of the Boston bombers.

Ken Livingstone was condemned today after arguing US foreign policy was to blame for the Boston bomb

Appearing on Iranian TV, the former London mayor suggested the Boston bombers had retaliated over American "injustices" such as the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

“There was such ignorance in the Bush White House about Islam and the history of so many disputes that exist in the Middle East. People get angry — they lash out," Mr Livingstone said.

"They would have been reading about the torture at Guantanamo Bay, at Baghram airbase."

"They would have read stuff about how, I think it is 54 different countries secretly collaborated with America for this rendition — people being snatched off streets taken to be tortured, because the [former US president George W] Bush regime believed that they were all potential terrorists.

He then added: “It’s the whole squalid intervention that has disfigured the record of the western democracies and I think fuels the anger of the young men, who — as we saw in Boston — went out, and, out of anger and a demand for revenge, claimed lives in the west.”

It’s the whole squalid intervention that has disfigured the record of the western democracies

Ken Livingstone

Furious Tory party members have since demanded that the former Mayor apologise for the comments which they branded “irresponsible, insensitive and thoughtless”.

Defending his remarks, the former Labour MP later said he had been talking about terrorism generally and not specifically the Chechen brothers accused of killing three people and wounding more than 260 in Boston.

"We don’t know about the motives of the Boston bombers," he said. "All the Chechen terrorism has so far been against Russia."

Standing by his remarks, he added: "If over the last 60 years, we had allowed Africa and Asia and the Middle East to develop in their own way, there would be no terrorism today and perhaps many of those countries would be viable democracies."

However, Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps called Mr Livingstone’s remarks "irresponsible, insensitive and thoughtless" that "show why Ken Livingstone is not fit to hold public office.

"He should unreservedly apologise for the distress he has caused," Mr Shapps added.